Here is how I came upon all my wonderful pets! My Pot-bellied pig, my Pygmy goat and my Bernese Mountain Dog. They are truley remarkable pets and very much a part of my family (well, maybe not the goat so much!)
Bacon Charolette is my adorable blue-eyed pot-bellied pig. She is amazingly smart. We bought her when she was just 8 weeks old for my youngest daugther who asked for one when she found out we were moving from the city to the country. Would you believe she taught her to sit in only 5 minutes!
Bacon Charolette is very well trained and according to numerous books that I've read, they are very intelligent animals. They say that pot-bellied pigs have an intelligence level of a young child. And boy does she! When she isn't happy about something she can throw a tantrum and squeel something awful! When she is happy you can tell by her bright eyes and wagging tail. If there wasn't a little trace of city girl left in me, Bacon Charolette would be sharing our home. Instead, she has a lovely space in our barn nex to the goat. They keep each other company.
During the spring, summer & fall, we let her roam around the yard. She is very good about sticking to her boundaries, but there are times when she decides to take a "walk about" and visit our neighbor next door. She enjoys the fall the most when she is allowed to ravish the remains of the garden. She loves strawberries, so in the spring we need to watch her more closely. She enjoys ears of corn and tomatoes the most.
Like all women, Bacon Charolette has to have her spa days. After a rainy day, she will find a mud hole to roll around in, and if she is unsuccessful, she will root with her nose and make one. Often, she will get herself wet in the pond and then roll around in the sand and then find a place to lay in the sun to dry herself. She enjoys being bathed and then slathered with babyoil to soothe her skin.
Bacon Charolette has an amazing personality. She stands on her hind legs when she wants a treat and almost always comes when you call her. When she doesn't it's probably because she is doing something she is not suppose to like eating the goat or chiken food, or worse over in the neighbors yard and eating their chicken food from their shed! She enjoys hanging out with people, and if someone doesn't acknowledge her, she gets very upset and vocal. She loves to have her ears scratched, play in the small pool we bought for the dog, and she gets along well with all the other animals. She and Kracker enjoy each other very much and will roam the yard, hang out by the pond or just lay with each other on the patio. I think Kracker could actually learn a thing or two from her. Once in a while, she will butt heads with the goat, she does a very good job keeping everyone in-line!
Borden followed shortly after. We fell in love with him at the Goodells Fair. When we were leaving the fair, we had him on leash, he was very small and beatifully marked. As we were walking him to our car, a group of small children were playing and one of them came up to tell us that we had a "really cute deer". He was so small when we brought him home, he sat on my lap.
He shares a stall next to Bacon Charolette in the barn. Within a few hours of having him home, he broke one of the windows in his stall as he tried to jump through it. We then found out that we had to add more height to his stall as he could leap very high and he kept getting out of his stall and into Bacon Charolette's. After about 5 or 6 hours and 3 more boards later, he calmed down and became a bit more settled in his new surroundings.
The next spring we found out rather quickly that he (unlike Bacon Charolette) could not roam the yard alone because he very quickly wiped out our blueberry and blackberry bushes. He spends a bit more time in his stall. Borden is very stubborn. He doesn't like to walk much and we've found that he enjoys being out with the rest of the animals in the yard. He enjoys when we hang out by the pond during the summer and even gets close enough to drink from the cool water.
We leave him on a long line outside when we are home so he can get some additional exercise and graze in the yard. There have been a time or two when he has broken his line and we've found him safetly back in his stall (I think he's seen a few too many chickens disapper from predators, so he isn't really comfortable outdoors after dusk.) Once, we found him tangled up in the garden and another time in the chicken coup. We haven't had any problems with him jumping onto the hoods of cars, but he does like to jump on tables. He's even taken a bite out of book I was reading once. He just walked up, grabbed the page and chewed it up! Like Bacon Charolette, he is very good at letting us know when he is annoyed or feeling ignored.
Yeah, he was probably an impulse purchase, I mean what else do you do with a goat? But he's fun to have around and a good companion for Bacon Charolette in the barn.
K
racker, (Kracker Doodle as we often call him) is the most recent addition to our home. He is just absolutely beautiful! He is a Bernese Mountain Dog (sometimes confused with a St. Bernard). A few years ago while on a wine tour up north, I fell in love with the breed when we visited Bowers Harbor Vineyards. It was there I first saw Cooper, a Bernese Mountain Dog.
We looked for 2 years for a Bernier of our own. He joined us when he was 12 weeks old and he was big for a puppy, well not for his breed. He was so clumsy, his paws were huge! I had a difficult time trying to name him. I had my heart set on a girl and had the name Sophie all picked out. But when I saw the litter of puppies, he just walked up to me and I felt a connection. For a few hours I had named him Diesel. But after having him at home and watching him run around and try to catch my friends little Maltese Zoie, who was visiting at the time, we found ourselves just laughing hysterically watching Kracker tumble over his enormous paws while he tried to run and catch quick, tiny Zoie. While we were laughing, or "cracking up" the name Kracker just came to me and it seemed more fitting because he was just so cute and funny and Diesel seemed so harsh. Now, however, I think Moose whould have been a more suitable name.
Bernier's are known for beings working farm dogs and hearding. He likes to think I'm who he heards. He likes to grab me by my pant leg and lead me to where he wants to play. Like any faithful dog, he looks forward to seeing me and being paid attention to.
We have taken Kracker everywhere with us. During his first year he joined us on a canoe trip where he was very well behaved and had his first experience sleeping in a tent by himself. Then we took him on several wine tours where he was welcomed inside the winery, and enjoyed some great cheese and a little tasting of wine. He has also been golfing with us, Kayaking and even to the drive in! Mention the word "walk" and he is already on his way to get his leash from the hook by the back door. He loves going for a walk, although he prefers to walk me. He is small for his breed, which at first was a little disappointing because I wanted a big dog, 150+. Kracker is probably just over 100 lbs., which is for the best because he thinks he is a lap dog. Seriously though, I'm glad he isn't that big. We've seen a few dogs that have been well over 175 lbs. and they have had double knee replacements already and I really don't want to have to go there with Kracker. We may even get another year or two out of him. Berniers do not have a long life expectancy; usually 7-9 years is all you can expect from the breed.
We've learned that we have to keep Kracker on a long line for the most part. He has learned to roam a little too freely on his own. Usually when he gets out he does come back but not after he has run next door to the neighbors, goes up on their deck and scratches at their door, going under their deck and then running through their yard and then jumping in their pond, then he runs back through the woods to our house and then visits our pond and then he checks out all the animals in their pens before he decides that maybe he better come back to the house - maybe. So, for his safety we keep him on a long line in the yard or in a large kennel.
Kracker gets in his share of trouble. We got to a point where we could trust him to stay out in the house alone while we were gone. But after a while we would come home and find that he had gotten papers off the counter and shredded & scattered them all over house. We had to draw the line when we came home and found an open flame on the gas stove, that's not good. Like any good dog, he likes to empty the garbage cans in the house, chew socks & undewear and eat toilet paper. He does carry the egg basket in his mouth from the house to the chicken coop so we can collect the eggs. We don't let him carry it back though. He does a good job keeping the chickens round up; although we prefer he doesn't bother them as it disturbs their egg laying. Sometimes, I think he thinks he's a bird dog...we have to watch that he doesn't catch the chickens!
Kracker enjoys swimming in the pond and come winter he especially loves the snow. While I enjoy long walks in the summer months, he prefers long walks in the winter months. If I had his thick luxurious coat I might not mind the cold that much either. He enjoys romping around the property with Bacon Charolette. They chase each other and sometimes they try to chew each others tails. Bacon Charolette usally wins any battles presented. Although, Kracker is very good at letting Bacon Charolette have her way (as it should be between men & women) Kracker shares his food (well, Bacon Charolette really doesn't give him a choice) but he does generously share his bones and toys with Bacon Charolette. After a long afternoon of roaming and running around, you'll often find them nose to nose on the patio relaxing.
Kracker is a beautiful, faithful companion and like any young dog full of bondless energy. He is immediately admired by everyone he meets.
Marissa A. Jarrett
marissa@marissajarrett.com
